In what could become a stopgap between today's standard Galaxy Note II and next year's Galaxy Note III, Samsung is preparing to roll out a black variant of the former. A high-resolution picture of the device baring its back to the camera was posted by Swiss website AndroidSlash.ch, which reveals a textured piano-black panel (similar to the Galaxy S III Sapphire Black scheme), with a black and chrome S-pen.

Given how Samsung launched four color variants of the Galaxy S III, it wouldn't be far-fetched to imagine a similar treatment meted out to the 5.5-inch phablet, which is doing fairly well in its market segment (which it created). In case of the Galaxy S III, Samsung released Sapphire Black, Garnet Red, Amber Brown, and Titanium Gray.